LDF Statement on the Proposed Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act of 2017

Today, Senators Kamala Harris and Rand Paul introduced the Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act of 2017, which provides grants to States and Indian tribes to incentivize criminal justice reform efforts aimed at replacing the use of money bail with a more just pretrial release system. Todd Cox, Policy Director at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., issued the following statement:

“Our nation simply cannot afford the moral and financial cost of money bail. For years, it has been disproportionately imposed along racial and economic lines, creating a devastating cycle of poverty that furthers systemic inequality and wreaks havoc on individuals and their families. The Pretrial Integrity and Safety Act provides incentives to states to abandon this ineffective, counterproductive, and inordinately expensive system. We’re grateful to Senators Harris and Paul for their leadership in seeking to bring a long overdue end to this unjust practice. Justice should never be determined by the color of one’s skin or the size of one’s wallet, and we strongly encourage Congress to enact this legislation, which would be a significant step in realizing our nation's promise of liberty and justice for all.”

Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF.